I'd hardly consider some of the big Texas outfits with 20,000 acres or more under high fence, to be like hunting in a cage. Sometimes the high fences seem to be designed more to keep people and undesired animals out, rather than to keep deer in. I've never hunted such an operation, but I wouldn't hesitate to say that if I were to somehow win a hunt somewhere such as the King Ranch that I would turn it down!

I don't agree with the places where you pick a deer from a catalog, then go out and after it's been released from a holding pen wait for it to wander into view and shoot it. In that case, it's not hunting; but for some individuals that may be their only option and if that's the case, then it's their choice and not mine to condemn.

If you can make every mistake there is to make, and the deer is still there to be hunted again, you are hunting a cage. And stack hunters shoulder to shoulder and march from one end of that cage to the other, and you could kill every critter within, in the time it take to walk the length. I do not consider that hunting. I will not hunt high fence. That is my choice.

The only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker is observation. All the same data is present for both. The rest is understanding what you are seeing.

A question about high fence operations. I know in some states (maybe all, I'm not sure) that nobody owns the game animals that reside on thier unfenced land. How does this work when a high fence hunting operation starts? Are the landowners responsible for pushing all deer out of a fenced area and then puchasing deer to bring in, or can they just go about putting up the fence and breed and feed the deer from there?

croz2173 wrote:A question about high fence operations. I know in some states (maybe all, I'm not sure) that nobody owns the game animals that reside on thier unfenced land. How does this work when a high fence hunting operation starts? Are the landowners responsible for pushing all deer out of a fenced area and then puchasing deer to bring in, or can they just go about putting up the fence and breed and feed the deer from there?

Not quite right. The deer are owned by the State, that is why you have to buy a tag to hunt them. This thread tell quite a bit about Texas High Fence Hunting. It may vary some from State to State, but private land, and a fence seem to be all that's required to take and hold state property for your own use.viewtopic.php?f=5&t=27361&hilit=+high+fence&start=90

The only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker is observation. All the same data is present for both. The rest is understanding what you are seeing.

Wow the OP makes me laugh....Yeppers he certainly watches Too much TV and just from his statements really doesn't get out much...I mean while he was giving private land owner and private land owners that manage their lands the back of his hand........ he forgot to throw in any deer hunter with the nerve to hunt rutting bucks any where....Seriously is there any prey animal out there as dumb as a rutting buck?Does he think a food plot would EVER trump a big bottle of doe estrous during the rut?I put out a challenge...you go out to an area similar to where I own land and hunt where everyone ... not only gun hunts but bow hunts...where we can take up to 2 bucks and 4 doe and the hunting density is 200+ hunters per square mile on heavily posted lands with large pockets of swamp that are impassable.....You go hunt an area like that and come out with even a 3 yr old buck....and we'll talk about "real" hunters....Thanks for the laugh

Kinda thought I would rattle some feathers !I do agree with the fact that hunting the swamps would be tough and dangerous ,probably more dangerous than hunting with grizzlies ,wolves and cats like we do here! but my post is more pointed toward the midwest.At what point do the deer become almost tame when thy are habituated to food plots.As far as the coment on the rut I agree in a lot of places they shouldnt hunt during the rut,But here and in places like Maine where deer densities can be under 8 deer per square mile a deer camp with 20 guys in it couldnt kill a good buck. I love the fact that I get to hunt giant wild bucks that simply have never been seen or captured on film or havnt been filmed more than brad pitt I tried hunting the midwest (wisconson) just wasnt for me.Although it was kinda nice walking in 400 yards to a stand instead of 1 mile in the dark in grizzly country with a stand on your back. The fact is in the midwest I believe its who has access to the best places will kill the biggest bucks .And as far as the comment on On Your Own Adventures, dude those guys probably walk more in one day than most do in a season.I also hunt elk with a bow and a 20 mile day walking is not at all unheard of and I feel the same way about them thats what started this post. so if any of you wildreness guys have some great bucks on the wall I was hoping to see some pics please even if they are bucks the farm guys would scoff at.

I love the fact that I get to hunt giant wild bucks that simply have never been seen or captured on film or havnt been filmed more than brad pitt I tried hunting the midwest (wisconson) just wasnt for me.Although it was kinda nice walking in 400 yards to a stand instead of 1 mile in the dark in grizzly country with a stand on your back.

That is great that you get to hunt like that and you've taken mature buck...more power to you I sincerely mean that... What is sad in your case, is that you couldn't have a discussion about the thrill of hunting non pressured deep woods mature buck ...without back handing other hunters that hunt differently than you ...with an entirely different set of challenges...

do agree with the fact that hunting the swamps would be tough and dangerous ,probably more dangerous than hunting with grizzlies ,wolves and cats like we do here!

Now I suppose I could have...aahhh but won't ,let that not to well masked sarcasm slide. When I mentioned swamps it was in reference to buck hide outs... Not something like ..."lions and tigers and bears Ohh my!...Oppss I mean lions and wolfs and bears Ohhh my!...LOL

Honestly!!! Has this become a my-way-of-hunting-deer-is-more-superior-to-yours kind of thread? I hunt mine on public land so the rest of you are all slobs? Jeesh. I'm sorry I took the bait.

I hate to burst folks' bubble, but a nice buck is a nice buck. There's a 14 pointer that hangs out in my neighborhood. If I put a stand up in my pin oak out in the front yard and nailed him, I would not feel any less a hunter than if I'd driven 12 hours to hunt in an unpopulated wilderness. I've been up above the 45th parallel quite a bit over the years-- canoe and backpacking. Yep! There's bears up there. There's wolves. However, I much prefer whitetail deer hunting on my little patch of heaven in SW Bracken County, KY.

Why?I can walk out my door and be at my stand in under a half-hour. Along the way, I can stop for 5 minutes and admire Orion.If I bag one, I can call back to the house and have a pickup with a winch out to the stand in under 20 minutes.I don't have to worry about shooting someone or them shooting me. It's just me and the shamanic dream team.I've got deer, turkey, elk, and coyote, but I'm less than 90 minutes from downtown Cincinnati. We have the occasional bear as well.

As to densities, I will believe that there are 45 deer /sq mi. in my county. I've heard suggestions that there are over 80. I'm one county over from where the state record whitetail was taken. There are 300-pounders out there, but the biggest I've taken was a paltry 270. Now, help me understand this: there is something better about going somewhere there's only 8 deer /sq mi?

Tame? Well, heck! I guess I've been doing it all wrong. Kellory and I should just put away our guns and just walk up to them and put rhinestone dog collars on them and then ride them into town!!!

Most importantly, I've been hunting this same 200 acres since 2001. I hunt the great-great-grandsons of the deer I hunted back then. I've watched a whole herd slowly grow from a single stray doe with a late-season fawn. My sons grew up hunting these deer and stewardship of the land and the deer will pass to them when I'm gone. Now, you can talk yourself blue about how hunting in some public wilderness is superior all you want, but I will be out tonight at the Thoughtful Spot sipping a scotch at sundown, listening to #3 son play the banjo, and watching the deer munching my dandelions , and I would say that sure beats watching TV.

BTW: There are farms on 2 sides of me up for sale, if'n any of you are interested.